John 8

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7:53–8:11 The religious authorities bring Jesus a woman caught in the act of adultery and ask Him to pass judgment. The scene is similar to many legal test cases or hypothetical scenarios that the Jewish religious leaders bring to Jesus (compare the two examples in Matt 22:15–23). Adultery was not a capital offense under Roman law.

This story is missing from the earliest manuscripts of the NT. Some manuscripts place the story after Luke 21:38, where it fits the narrative context better. Also, the phrase “scribes (or teachers of the law) and Pharisees” in John 8:3 is otherwise not used by John, but it is in Matthew and Luke (Matt 12:38; 23:13; Luke 5:21; 6:7; 11:53). The story may be an accurate tradition about Jesus that was mistakenly added to John’s Gospel even though it would fit better with the style and content of Matthew, Mark, or Luke.

John 7:53–8:11 ESV

They went each to his own house, but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. Early in the morning he came again to the temple. All the people came to him, and he sat down and taught them. The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery, and placing her in the midst they said to him, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery. Now in the Law, Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?” This they said to test him, that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.” And once more he bent down and wrote on the ground. But when they heard it, they went away one by one, beginning with the older ones, and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. Jesus stood up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.”

John 7:53–8:11 (ESV)

John 7:53-John 8:1 They went each to his own house, but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.

7:53–8:1. For Jesus spending nights on the Mount of Olives, cf. 18:1–2; Luke 22:39; cf. also Mark 11:1, 11.

8:1 Mount of Olives A small ridge on Jerusalem’s eastern border.

John 8:2 Early in the morning he came again to the temple. All the people came to him, and he sat down and taught them.

8:2. Teachers often taught in the temple courts; cf. 7:14.

John 8:3. The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery, and placing her in the midst

8:3. John, who deals only with “Pharisees” and chief priests, nowhere mentions “scribes,” who are more frequent in the other Gospels; scribes functioned as teachers of the law.

Faithlife Study Bible (Chapter 8)

8:3. a woman caught in adultery The biblical law prescribed death for both partners involved in an adulterous relationship (Lev 20:10). The religious authorities’ condemnation is unjustly selective since her partner has apparently been let off.

John 8:4-5. they said to him, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery. Now in the Law, Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?”

8:5 Moses commanded us to stone such women Compare Lev 20:10; Deut 22:22–24.

Barry, John D. et al. Faithlife Study Bible. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2012, 2016. Print.8:4–5. The law demanded the execution of this woman, but Rome had removed capital jurisdiction from Jewish courts, except for temple violations. Thus the Jewish leaders test whether Jesus will reject the law, compromising his patriotic Jewish following, or reject Roman rule, which will allow them to accuse him to the Romans.

John 8:6. This they said to test him, that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground.

8:6. God wrote the Ten Commandments with his finger (Ex 31:18; Deut 9:10); perhaps Jesus writes the first line of the tenth commandment in the Septuagint of Exodus 20: “You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife.” This text would declare them all guilty of adultery (Mt 5:28). This proposal is at best speculation, but we have no better clues concerning what Jesus might have written with his finger; perhaps the most reasonable other option is that he is merely passing time until they leave.

John 8:7. And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.”

8:7. The witnesses were normally the first to throw the stones, but false witnesses were to pay the same penalty they had hoped to inflict on their victim (Deut 17:7; 19:19).

8:7 The one of you without sin The legal problems intended to entrap Jesus always result in embarrassment for the accusers or questioners, as Jesus’ response is always unexpected and cuts directly to the heart of the problem. Jesus makes the case that no one is without sin other than God, and thus no one is permitted to pass judgment by any authority other than what God has given them. Only God has a pure motive.

Since Jesus has, throughout the Gospel of John, alluded to being God in flesh (see note on John 8:12), the implication is that He is the only one permitted to pass judgment in this scenario—yet He chooses to be gracious. This is either because the woman is innocent, the accusers have backed down, or simply because Jesus desires to give her an out that she doesn’t deserve.

John 8:8. And once more he bent down and wrote on the ground.

John 8:9. But when they heard it, they went away one by one, beginning with the older ones, and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him.

New Testament 7:53–8:11—The Woman Taken in Adultery

8:9–11. It was a commonplace of Jewish teaching that even the most pious had committed sins. God had the power to judge or forgive sins.

John 8:10. Jesus stood up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”

John 8:11. She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.”